FanFare 9/23/02

Baseball

Cubs first baseman Fred McGriff became the first major leaguer to hit 30 homers in a season with five teams when he homered Sunday in Pittsburgh.

McGriff hit a 3-0 pitch from Kris Benson into the right-field seats for his 30th homer and his first in PNC Park, the record 42nd park in which he has homered. The two-run drive came in the first inning.

Until Sunday, McGriff and Cleveland's Ellis Burks had homered in 41 parks each.

McGriff also had three 30-homer seasons with Toronto, two with San Diego and one each with Atlanta and Tampa Bay. He now is 22 homers away from No. 500 in his career, a mark reached so far by only 17 players, although teammate Sammy Sosa has 498.

Basketball

The brother of missing former NBA player Bison Dele reportedly is on life support, and FBI agents were wrapping up their investigation Sunday in Tahiti.

The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Dele's brother, Miles Dabord, is "dead, living only through artificial means," according to his mother. Dabord was found unconscious Sept. 14 in Tijuana, Mexico, and taken to a hospital in California. He has been in a coma since, and the FBI only learned his identity Thursday.

The Times reported that Dabord's mother, Patricia Phillips, said doctors discovered severe damage to her son's brain as a result of an insulin overdose and failure to take his asthma medication.

Phillips told the newspaper the decision on whether to remove Dabord from life support was "inevitable," and that she plans to meet with a neurologist today to assess her son's brain damage.

Colleges

Freshman tailback Trey Bonner of Tennessee Tech was named the Ohio Valley Conference's newcomer of the week for his three-touchdown performance.

Bonner had a career-best 143 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries in helping Tennessee Tech defeat Valparaiso 62-10 Saturday.

Marcus Adams of Eastern Kentucky received defensive player of the week honors with five tackles, a sack and five quarterback hurries in a 22-6 victory over Florida Atlantic.

Will Bumphus of Eastern Illinois was offensive player of the week for catching four passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-19 win over Indiana State.

Eastern Illinois' Andre Raymond was special teams player of the week with 194 all-purpose yards, including 140 on kickoff returns.

Football

Former NFL linebacker Wayne Simmons, who died last month in a one-car accident, had a blood alcohol level more than twice the state's legal limit at the time of the crash.

The Jackson County Medical Examiner said Simmons had a blood alcohol level of .19 percent when he was killed Aug. 23 in an accident on Interstate 70 near Independence. Missouri's legal limit is .08 percent.

Police said Simmons, 32, was driving more than 100 mph and weaving in traffic before the accident. His car went off the interstate, rolled several times and caught fire.

No alcohol was found inside Simmons' car. But Independence police Sgt. John Passiglia said several witnesses saw Simmons "drinking and drinking heavily" in the hours before the accident

Tennis

Serena Williams rebounded from a shaky start Sunday and beat Kim Clijsters 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the Toyota Princess Cup.

Williams, the world's No. 1 player and the tournament's top seed, captured her seventh title of the year and improved to 5-0 against Clijsters, the No. 3 seed.

-- From wire reports